1900s
The decade from January 1, 1900 to December 31, 1909 is sometimes referred to as the 1900s, "the nineteen hundreds", although this term can equally be used for the years 1900–1999. "The aughts" or "naughts" (aught-aught through aught-nine) was one of the more popular contemporary terms for this decade. Technology * Widespread application of the internal combustion engine including mass production of the automobile. Rudolf Diesel demonstrated the diesel engine in the 1900 ''Exposition Universelle'' (World's Fair) in Paris using peanut oil fuel (see biodiesel). The Diesel engine takes the Grand Prix. The exposition was attended by 50 million people.Martin Leduc, "Biography of Rudolph Diesel" The same year Wilhelm Maybach designed an engine built at Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft—following the specifications of Emil Jellinek—who required the engine to be named Daimler-Mercedes after his daughter, Mercédès Jellinek. In 1902, the Mercedes 35 hp automobiles with that engine were put into production by DMG.NNDB Mapper:"Wilhelm Maybach"The history behind the Mercedes-Benz brand and the three-pointed star. eMercedesBenz.com. April 17, 2008. * 1899–1900 - Thomas Alva Edison of Milan, Ohio invents the nickel-alkaline storage battery. On May 27, 1901, Edison establishes the Edison Storage Battery Company to develop and manufacture them.,The Thomas Edison Papers: "Company Records Series -- Edison Storage Battery Company "It proved to be Edison's most difficult project, taking ten years to develop a practical alkaline battery. By the time Edison introduced his new alkaline battery, the gasoline powered car had so improved that electric vehicles were becoming increasingly less common, being used mainly as delivery vehicles in cities. However, the Edison alkaline battery proved useful for lighting railway cars and signals, maritime buoys, and miners lamps. Unlike iron ore mining with the Edison Ore-Milling Company, the heavy investment Edison made over ten years was repaid handsomely, and the storage battery eventually became Edison's most profitable product. Further, Edison's work paved the way for the modern alkaline battery." Mary Bellis, "Biography of Thomas Edison" * 1902 - Willis Carrier of Angola, New York invented the first indoor air conditioning. "He designed his spray driven air conditioning system which controlled both temperature and humidity using a nozzle originally designed to spray insecticide. He built his "Apparatus for Treating Air" (U.S. Pat. #808897) which was patented in 1906 and using chilled coils which not only controlled heat but could lower the humidity to as low as 55%. The device was even able to adjust the humidity level to a desired setting creating what would become the framework for the modern air conditioner. By adjusting the air movement and temperature level to the refrigeration coils he was able to determine the size and capacity of the unit to match the need of his customers. While Carrier was not the first to design a system like this his was much more stable, successful and safer that other versions and took air conditioning out of the Dark Ages and into the realm of science." "Willis Carrier the "father" of the modern air conditioning" * 1903 - Ford Motor Company produces its first car — the Ford Model A. * 1903 - Mary Anderson invented windshield wipers. In November 1903 Anderson was granted her first patentUnited States Patent 743,801, Issue Date: November 10, 1903 for an automatic car window cleaning device controlled inside the car, called the windshield wiper.Women Hold Patents on Important Inventions; USPTO recognizes inventive women during Women's History Month, United States Patent and Trademark Office press release #02–16, March 1, 2002, accessed March 3, 2009 Her device consisted of a lever and a swinging arm with a rubber blade. The lever could be operated from inside a vehicle to cause the spring-loaded arm to move back and forth across the windshield. Similar devices had been made earlier, but Anderson's was the first to be effective.Many Anderson: Windshield Wipers, September 2001, Inventor of the Week Archive, Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering website, accessed March 3, 2009 * 1904–1914 - The Panama Canal constructed by the United States in the territory of Panama, which had just gained independence from Colombia. The Canal is a ship canal that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific ocean and a key conduit for international maritime trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the canal had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America. A ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels , well under half the route around Cape Horn. The project starts on May 4, 1904, known as Acquisition Day. The United States government purchased all Canal properties on the Isthmus of Panama from the New Panama Canal Company, except the Panama Railroad.Acquisition Day, May 4, 1904 The project begun under the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, continued in that of William Howard Taft and completed in that of Woodrow Wilson.The Panama Canal.com: "End of the Construction"The American Presidency Project: "Woodrow Wilson - Address to a Joint Session of Congress on Panama Canal Tolls" (March 5, 1914) The Chief engineers were John Frank Stevens and George Washington Goethals Gilles R. Maurice, "John F. "Big Smoke" Stevens"Panama Canal Authority: "George Washington Goethals" * 1904 - Benjamin Holt of the Holt Manufacturing Company invents one of the first practical continuous tracks for use in tractors. While the date of invention was reportedly November 24, 1904, Holt would not receive a patent until December, 1907."Agricultural Machinery, Business History of Machinery Manufacturers" * 1907 - Thomas Edison invented the "Universal Electric Motor" which made it possible to operate dictation machines, etc. on all lighting circuits.Gerald Beals, "Major Inventions And Events In The Life Of Thomas Alva Edison" (1996 * 1908 - Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company introduces the Ford Model T. The first production Model T was built on September 27, 1908, at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that "put America on wheels"; some of this was because of Ford's innovations, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting, as well as the concept of paying the workers a wage proportionate to the cost of the car, so that they would provide a ready made market."Henry Ford Changes the World, 1908," EyeWitness to History www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2005) On this wiki See also * Category:1900s automobiles Timeline The following articles contain brief timelines which list the most prominent events of the decade: 1900 • 1901 • 1902 • 1903 • 1904 • 1905 • 1906 • 1907 • 1908 • 1909 References External links * [http://www.ulwaf.com/LA-1900s/index04.html Los Angeles in the 1900s, a collection of newspaper articles and illustrations from 1900 to 1910] Category:1900s Category:Edwardian era